Azure free account FAQ

The Azure free account includes access to a number of Azure products that are free for 12 months, $200 credit to spend for the first 30 days of sign-up and access to more than 25 products that are always free. *

The Azure free account is available to all new customers of Azure. If you’ve never tried or paid for Azure before, you’re eligible.

Do I pay anything to start with the Azure free account?

No. Starting is free, plus you get a $200 credit which you can spend during the first 30 days.

Do I have to pay after 30 days?

At the end of your first 30 days, you can continue to use your free products after you upgrade your account to a pay-as-you-go pricing and remove the spending limit. If you stay within the service quantities included for free, you won’t have to pay anything. The $200 free credit acts as a spending limit.

What happens once I’ve used my $200 free credit or I’m at the end of 30 days?

We’ll notify you so you can decide if you want to upgrade to pay-as-you-go pricing and remove the spending limit. If you do, you’ll have access to all the free products. If you don’t, your account and products will be disabled, and you’ll need to upgrade to resume usage.

What does it mean to upgrade my account?

When you sign up for an Azure free account, you get a $200 credit that acts as a spending limit – that is, in the first 30 days, any usage of resources beyond the free products and quantities will be deducted from the $200 credit. When you’ve used up the $200 credit or 30 days have expired (whichever happens first), you’ll have to upgrade to a pay-as-you-go account. This automatically removes the spending limit so you can continue to get access to all of the free products included in the free account. With the spending limit removed, you pay for what you use beyond the free amounts and this will be charged to the card you provided.

What happens with the products if I don’t upgrade?

If you decide not to upgrade at the end of the 30 days or once you’ve used up your $200 credit (whichever happens first), any products you’ve deployed will be decommissioned and you won’t be able to access them. You can always come back within the next 30 days to upgrade your account.

How do I know how much of the $200 I’ve used and how much I have left?

Your remaining credit will be shown at the top of the management portal, so you always know where you’re at.

What will happen to my unused credit if I upgrade before the end of the 30 days?

When you upgrade your account to pay-as-you-go pricing, any free credit you have remaining will still be available for the full 30 days after starting your free account. There’s nothing to lose if you upgrade early. When you upgrade, you get to keep building with free products. Beyond the free amounts, you only pay for what you use each month. You can cancel at any time.

What do I need to sign up for a free account?

All you need is a phone number, a credit card, and a GitHub account or Microsoft account username (formerly Windows Live ID).

Do I need a Microsoft account to sign up for Azure?

You can sign up with your Microsoft account, or you can use your GitHub account and take your code all the way from repositories to deployment.

How does the sign-up process work using GitHub?

You can now sign up using the “Sign-in options” link on the Azure sign-in page. When you, as a GitHub user, first sign into a Microsoft product with your credentials, GitHub will ask for your permission to consent. GitHub will share the name and public and private email addresses on your GitHub account with Microsoft to check whether you already have a Microsoft account. If it looks like you already have an account, you’ll have the option to use that account and add your GitHub account as a login method. Otherwise, a new account will be created and linked to the GitHub account.

What GitHub information will be shared with Microsoft?

Microsoft is committed to user privacy. The request for profile information is used to check for the presence of an existing Microsoft account and to create an account if needed. Once your information enters the Microsoft ecosystem, it’s protected by the Microsoft terms of service and isn’t shared without your permission. Connecting a GitHub identity to a Microsoft account will not give Microsoft any code access.

Why do I need to provide a credit card and phone number?

One of the ways we keep prices low is to verify that account holders are real people, not bots or anonymous troublemakers. We use the phone number and credit card for identity verification. We won’t charge your credit card anything, but you may see a one-dollar verification hold on your credit card account, which will be removed within three to five days.

What happens at the end of the 12 months of free products?

For 12 months after you’ve upgraded your account, certain amounts of popular products for compute, networking, storage and databases will be free. After 12 months, any of these products which you may be using will continue to run, and you’ll be billed at the standard pay-as-you-go rates.

Can the Azure free account be used for production or only for development?

The Azure free account provides access to all Azure products and does not block customers from building their ideas into production. The Azure free account includes certain products – and specific quantities of those products – for free. To enable your production scenarios, you may need to use resources beyond the free amounts. You’ll be billed for those additional resources at the pay-as-you-go rates.

Is the free account, 12 months of free products, and $200 credit available internationally?

Yes. These are available in all countries where Azure is commercially available (but doesn’t include sovereign cloud products in US Government, Azure China and Azure Germany regions). Azure is currently commercially available in 140 countries/regions including:

Give us a call on 1-800-867-1389 and we’ll be happy to answer any questions you have.

How many free account offers am I allowed to sign up for?

There is a limit of one account with 12 months of free access to products and $200 credit per new customer. You can, however, use as many products as you like beyond the free amounts by upgrading your account to pay-as-you-go pricing.

Can I use my Azure Hybrid Benefit within the Azure free account?

No. The Azure Hybrid Benefit cannot be combined with the products offered for free.